An Absence of Motive by Maggie Wells

Author:Maggie Wells
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-05-12T18:02:22+00:00

Chapter Ten

Ben hated to admit it, but he’d spent the better part of the next day hoping to run into her. No such luck. He’d seen her from a distance, though. She’d been driving her father’s mammoth SUV rather than her own car, and her mother had been in the passenger seat. He’d whiled away the rest of the day assuming she was tied up with family business. Expectations adjusted, he’d been pleasantly surprised when her name and number appeared on his phone. “Hello?”

“You busy?” Marlee asked without preamble.

He muted his television. “No.”

“I can tell you whoever my creeper is, he has a pretty good view of my window,” she said grimly.

Stomach knotting, Ben flexed his free hand to keep from balling up a fist. “He texted you?”

She blew out a long, gusty breath. “Yes.”

“And you’re only telling me now?”

“Yes, because I handled it,” she said with exaggerated patience.

“How? How did you handle it?”

“I closed the blinds and drew the curtains.”

“But he texted you.”

“Yes.”

Ben squeezed his eyes shut, quickly tiring of their game of twenty questions. “What did it say?”

A moment later, a text came through. Spoilsport.

Something live and primal growled deep inside him, but Ben bit his tongue. He couldn’t give vent to his own fear and anger. His job here was to alleviate hers. “So,” he said, keeping his tone neutral, “did he text anything else?”

“Not yet,” she admitted.

He ran the flat of his palm over his face. “Do you think he’s out there tonight?”

“Do you want me to go out and look?”

The sarcasm behind the question came through loud and clear. “No. I—” He clamped his mouth shut. He was babbling inanities because he couldn’t run right over there, yank this bastard out of whatever bush he was hiding in and beat him to a pulp. “I’ll call Mike and ask him to spend some extra time patrolling the area.”

“I’d appreciate that,” she said at last.

“And Marlee?”

“Yeah?”

“It sounds more a game to him. He’s scary and annoying, but he doesn’t seem to be escalating.” He closed his eyes, hoping he was right and not simply fooling the both of them in his attempt to soothe her.

“Right,” she said after a beat.

“He wants to rattle you, but I don’t think he wants to hurt you.” At least, he prayed his instincts were right on this point. A beep sounded in his ear, and he pulled the phone away to see who was calling on the other line. “Oh, hey, Mike is calling. I’ll ask him to step up his circuits around your house. You try to get some rest.”

“Got it, Officer.”

He exhaled, glad to hear some of her sass back. “I’ll talk to you later.”

He flashed over to Mike. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Ben?” the young deputy managed to croak. Dread slithered down Ben’s spine as he listened to Mike’s labored breathing on the other end of the line.

“What? What is it?” he demanded.

“I was listening to the scanner earlier, and I heard some of the guys from Prescott County going back and forth concerning a possible 10-56.

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